Ella.
by Lauren Greenleaf
Summary: A modern version of Cinderella
1. chapter one

    Ella lay in her room, sobbing into her hands. Only an hour ago, she had recieved the news that her beloved parents had died in a car accident. A truck had turned over on its side, flattening them. They had died instantly, the man told her- as if that was meant to help. The beautiful car, the car she had ridden in so many times- the car she had learned to drive in... it was gone. The car her sister- a fresh round of tears formed in her eyes at the thought of her sister..
    Maria, her sister, had died only a few months before- in the September 11 terrorist attacks. She had started her job as an intern that day, on the thirty second floor. She would have lived, if it hadn't been for the day before. Maria had tripped on the carpet covering the steps- it was quite old, and had been torn up -and fell, breaking her ankle as well. She was very good, she refused to stay home- even though their mother begged her not to go, saying she would hurt herself even more. And then she died, because of the crutches, it took twice as long, so it was as though she was twice as high up, on the sixty fourth floor..
    And now, Ella's whole family was gone. All except her Aunt May, and her three daughters. Sixteen year old twins, Suzanne and Mandee, and an eighteen year old- Helene. Suzanne and Mandee were the lesser of the two evils, but they still weren't as nice as Maria had been. They were, as mean people go, rather good. But sadly, Aunt May was the only living relative of Ella- and that meant that she had to go live with her.
    Ella spent her time writing in her journal. She wrote fantasies of ways to get rid of Aunt May and Helene. She figured that, without Aunt May or Helene, Suzanne and Mandee would probably be nice to her. Ella's favorite way to get rid of her aunt and cousin was to send them to Afghanistan, where they would be poor. Poor, and tortured. Unable to show off their beauty, unable to be loved. Maybe by some goats, but not by humans. Helene lived for love.. as did Aunt May. Ever since Aunt May's husband had divorced her, she had been single. But Ella knew what May wanted..
    _I wish they were dead. Its too bad Aunt May had to stay home and care for Helene the day of the attacks. Otherwise she might have died in the Pentagon. Or at the very least, been injured enough to make her be nice.._


	2. chapter two

    One day, Helene came into Ella's attic bedroom, with a smile. That smile Ella had learned to fear, for every time Helene did it, it meant something fowl for Ella. This time was no different.
"Oh, Ell-aaaa.." Helene smirked. "Mum says for you to come downstairs for a.. ah... meeting, of some sort." "I'll be right down." Ella sighed, images of the horrible life Aunt May and Helene would have in Afghanistan. But she had to go- who knew what they would do to her if she disobeyed?     Aunt May had, it seemed, grown more horrible. She handed Ella a flyer. "Read it," she commanded. It was a poster advertising what was supposedly the greatest concert since Woodstock. Ella looked up. Aunt May was smiling Helene's smile. "Continue, my little sweet." It was a Blink182 concert. Ella knew then what Aunt May was doing. Blink182 was all four girls' favorite group. And so, of course, Aunt May's daughters would be going.. and Ella would not.
    Aunt May told Ella, "I assume by now you have figured out what you will do to prepare for this?" "Yes, Aunt May. Helene, Suzanne, and Mandee are going to this concert." "Exactly. And do you know what You will be doing?" Ella didn't answer. "You will be helping them with their outfits, of course! I have your measuring tape," she held it up, "so you can measure them". "They, of course, know what they want their outfits to look like," she paused to glare at Ella. "And you may be sure that if the outfits are not perfect, you will not be a happy girl," her smile twisted into a horrible one; "So I would advise you to get to work. And work _well_"


	3. chapter three

    Aunt May and her cousins had just left for the concert, leaving Ella to clean the house.
    "..the house had better be shining when we return.." Aunt May's words to Ella, before the door was slammed. Ella sighed. _There are only five hours until they return. How can I possibly clean all this?_     A knock at the door made Ella jump. _Who could it possible be?_   
  


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    She had no idea who the woman on the porch was. Maybe it was someone from the concert, saying Aunt May and Helene had come to a tragic end..
    "Ella?" the stranger asked her. "Y-yes..," Ella replied, carefully. Who knew what the woman wanted. She certainly looked nice, but appearances could be decieving. The woman had on a long, flowing black dress, shiny black books, and there was something shaped like a stick in her pocket.     "Its all right- I'm here to help you," It was like the woman could read her mind! "You see, I'm Kirae, your.." Her words trailed off, like she didn't know how to say what she wanted to say next. "Well.. your fairy godmother." Ella's mouth dropped open. "Are you serious?" "Well, I'm really a witch. But that's close enough, isn't it? Anyway. I'm going to take you to the concert!"   
  


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    Ella's mind raced. What if her aunt or cousins saw her? She would certainly be punished.. And the house had to be cleaned!
    Suddenly, Ella realized that the witch Kirae really _must_ be able to read her mind- because the house was perfectly clean.
    "That's what you were worried about, wasn't it?" Kirae smiled. "Let's get you ready!" 


	4. chapter four

    Ella knew that if she didn't make Mandee, Suzanne, and Helene's dresses to Aunt May's satisfaction, there would be hell to pay. But she only had a week..
    "Suzanne's first, its easiest.." she thought, "I'll get the easiest ones done first." Suzanne's wanted an ice pink dress, glittering in the night. The dress would be long and flowing, tight around the waist but gradually getting wider the more it went down. But the best part wasn't the dress, it was the wings. The wings were to be a grayish pink, mostly gray. Sort of metallic, but not too much that it looked bad.  
Suzanne wanted to help with the wings, and, with a great amount of begging to Aunt May, was allowed to. So the making of the dress went quickly, and only took a day.
    Mandee liked Suzanne's dress, and wanted hers to be just like it, except in a light blue- but not too light -color, to match her eyes. This request made the making of Mandee's dress even quicker than Suzanne's, since Ella didn't have to do the pattern.
    But as easy as Mandee and Suzanne's dresses were, Helene's was twice as hard. Helene always looked for ways to get Ella in trouble. So it was no surprise that she made her dress as difficult as possible. Helene's dress was to be short, just above her knees. It would be a dark metallic purple, and make of a clingy material. The material was not only hard to find, but hard to sew as well. But Ella finished it, and Helene was happy. At least.. as happy as she could be with Ella.
    "Well, I suppose it'll do.." Helene sighed.
    _Well, that's better than nothing.._, Ella thought to herself. And it was. Because now she was free from the dresses, and Aunt May would be happy too, since her daughters were happy.


End file.
